The Investigation, a Radio 4 programme, this week suggested that there is no impending 'obesity epidemic'. They had a whole range of experts including Professor John Evans, from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Loughborough University, who doesn't believe the predictions we hear about in the news . He says "There is very little evidence to say that being overweight is a signifier of a person or a population's health".
The key point in the programme was that obesity is a problem, even though there is dispute about how best to measure it (most professional rugby players are obese by the standard BMI measures), but being overweight is not.
Cadence's view is that this once more comes down to physical activity being the key, rather than weight alone. Who is healthier: A regularly active, but overweight, 80kg 175cm male, or an inactive, but normal 70kg 175cm male?
There was also someone claiming that children who walked to school were overall less active than those who are driven. However odd this may sound, it was suggested that there has been good work done to support this view. Even if it is not robustly evidenced it does not change our view that focusing cycling and walking initiatives too much on the obesity agenda is a mistake.
For example, increasing the levels of cycling and walking (and play of course) has the potential benefit of creating a greater connection between people and places in communities.
This is a topic we hope to explore more in a research project in the New Year, with academic colleagues from a wide range of disciplines, including environmental psychology.
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Reply #2 on : Sun January 29, 2012, 15:06:51
Posts: 2
Reply #1 on : Sun January 29, 2012, 04:28:29
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